Bat man seeks to save endangered creatures

He sleeps during the day and does his work in the dead of night surrounded by bats. He is The Batman.

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By Joey Cresta

seacoastonline.com

By Joey Cresta

Posted Aug. 4, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Joey Cresta
Posted Aug. 4, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

He sleeps during the day and does his work in the dead of night surrounded by bats. He is The Batman.

David Yates doesn't live a double life as a playboy billionaire, and he isn't the hero Gotham needs. But his work is important, as it helps humans better understand a bat population that is fast dwindling in the Northeast.

Yates is a wildlife research biologist and the mammal program director at Biodiversity Research Institute of Gorham, Maine. In recent years, he has studied bats in the Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge, trying to determine which species live on the refuge and where they are roosting.

Unfortunately, he said, his work was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has stopped supporting the research.

"I don't know why (the funding) disappeared," said Emily Preston, a wildlife biologist with N.H. Fish and Game. "We were just starting to get an idea of where some of these animals that are using the refuge for feeding are roosting nearby."

The study of bats has grown more important in recent years due to white-nose syndrome, an emergent disease of hibernating bats that has spread from the northeastern to the central United States at an alarming rate. Since the winter of 2007-08, millions of insect-eating bats in 22 states and five Canadian provinces have died from the devastating disease, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center.

Preston said the disease is only active in winter and is caused by a fungus that grows on the skin of hibernating bats. Bats shut down their metabolism during hibernation and barely have enough energy to breathe and keep their circulation up, but the disease causes them to wake up, burning up precious fat, Preston said.

It has caused "unprecedented" population crashes in New Hampshire, she said. Little brown bats were once the most common bat species, but Preston estimated tens of thousands have likely died from the disease. Big brown bats are now the most common species, and other species include the northern long-eared bat and the eastern small-footed bat, which is on the state endangered species list.

"A lot of people are unaware ... of the plight of the bats right now," Yates said.

Over the past four summers, Yates has spent time in the Great Bay area, catching bats in nets and tagging them with identification bands. The purpose, he said, was to study migration patterns and determine where Great Bay bats are roosting.

Some bats who summer here in New Hampshire may fly as far as Vermont or New York in winter, where there are more extensive cave systems suitable for hibernation. Preston said Fish and Game regularly surveys 11 hibernacula — science-speak for a place in which a creature seeks refuge — in New Hampshire, most of them in Grafton and Coös counties.

One unusual hibernacula discovered in recent years can be found at Odiorne Point in Rye. More than 100 bats took up residence in one of the old bunkers there and transformed it into an artificial hibernacula.

Preston said the discovery is significant as it may be possible to clean an artificial hibernacula during the summer, which could protect bats from white-nose syndrome. The bat population at Odiorne Point did not appear to be impacted by the syndrome until a year or two after the bats were discovered, she said.

"We might be able to break the cycle," she said.

Especially significant is that a couple of the endangered eastern small-footed bats have been spotted in the bunker, Preston said.

The bunker could prove to be a valuable habitat, but is threatened by unauthorized human activity. The N.H. Division of Parks and Recreation has attempted to seal up the bunkers by welding them shut, but people continue to break in, Preston said.

She said it appears the homeless and partiers are among the offenders.

"It's been pretty amazing, what people will do to get in there," she said. "It's very obvious that people are partying in there."

When scientists enter the bunker to check on the bat population, they strive to do so quietly so as not to disturb the bats. But Preston said there was evidence that revelers in the bunker had even shot off fireworks, which would not be good for hibernating bats that are already imperiled by white-nose syndrome.

"White-nose syndrome already causes them to wake up more frequently," Preston said. "One additional waking up could be the difference between survival and death."

Yates said that as more hibernacula are wiped out, the situation for bats becomes bleaker. His work in the Great Bay area sought to provide valuable information on where the bats spend their summers and winters, so those areas could be protected, he said.

"It would have been interesting to keep that going to get a better understanding of the use of the bunkers and what our bunker bats are doing in the summer time," Preston said.

The plight of the bat may seem insignificant to people, but Preston and Yates agreed it has a real impact on humans. What people may find most useful about bats is that they feed on forest and agricultural pests and other flying insects, including mosquitoes.

A higher bat population would reduce cases of diseases like West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis, and protect crops. Yates said bats provide billions of dollars in estimated economic service every year nationwide.

"The concern and the work is international," Preston said. "We'll be seeing some changes and we just don't know what those are."